GROUP DYNAMICS - PRELIM

• Humans are social beings - We rely to one another to survive

  and grow
• Groups are influential - Groups alter their members’ attitudes,

  values, and perceptions.
• Groups shape our society - It mediates the connection

  between individuals and society-at-large
• Group - is two or more individuals who are connected by and

  within social relationships.
• Group - A collection of individuals who have relations to one another.
• Membership - The state of being a part of, or included within, a

  social group.
• Network - A set of interconnected individuals or groups.
• Social Identity - Those qualities that are held in common by

  two or more people who recognize that they are members of he

  same group or social category.
• dyads - two members
• triads - three members
• mobs, crowds, congregation - very large collection of people
• What are the unique qualities of larger groups?

  • Members are rarely connected directly to all other members.
  • Subgroups are likely to form.
  • One or more leaders may be needed to organize and guide the group.
• What is a group?

  • two or more individuals
  • who are connected
  • by and within social relationships
• ties = n (n-1)/2
• who are connected?

  Members of any group are interconnected; Connections or ties
• Group members share a common identity with one another.
• They know who is in their group, who is not, and what qualities are typical of insiders and outsiders. This perception of themselves as members of the same group — this social identity — creates a sense of we and us, as well as a sense of they.
• characteristics of a group?

  interaction

  goals

  interdependence

  group structure

  group cohesion
• interaction - what people in a group do.
• Relationship interaction - Actions performed that influence the emotional and interpersonal bonds within the group, including both positive actions (social support, consideration) and negative actions (criticism, conflict).
• Task interaction - Actions performed that pertain to the group’s projects, tasks, and goals.
• goals - reason
• What is McGrath’s circumplex model of group tasks?

  generating ideas or plans

  choosing a solution

  negotiating a solution to a conflict

  executing (performing) a task
• Interdependence - The state of being dependent to some degree on other people, as when one’s outcomes, actions, thoughts, feelings, and experiences are determined in whole or in part by others.
• Group Structure - The underlying pattern of roles, norms, and relations among members that organizes groups.
• Role - A coherent set of behaviors expected of people who occupy specific positions within a group.
• Norm - A consensual and often implicit standard that describes what behaviors should and should not be performed in a given context.
• Group cohesion - The strength of the bonds linking individuals to and in the group.
• Entitativity - is the extent to which individuals perceive how unified the group appears to be; the perceived unity rather than the group’s actual unity.
• entitativity is influenced by?

  common fate, similarity, proximity
• interaction - groups create, organize, sustain relationship and task interactions among members
• goals - groups have instrumental purposes, for they facilitate the achievement of aims or outcomes sought by the members
• interdependence - group members depend on one another, in that each member influences and is influenced by each other member
• structure - groups are organized, with each individual connected to others in a patter of relationships, roles, and norms
• unity - groups are cohesive social arrangements of individuals that perceivers, in some cases, consider to be unified wholes
• Primary Groups – A small, long-term group, such as families and friendship cliques, characterized by face-to-face interaction, solidarity, and high levels of member-to-group interdependence and identification.
• primary groups - small, long term groups characterized by face-to-face interaction and high levels of cohesiveness, solidarity, and member identification
• what are examples of primary groups?

  close friends, families, gangs, military squads
• Social Groups – A relatively small number of individuals who interact with one another over an extended period of time, such as work groups, clubs, and congregations.
• social groups - small groups of moderate duration and permeability characterized by moderate levels of interaction among the members over an extended period of time, often in goal-focused situations